Tag Archives: flame scythe

This is a Druid healing guide for the Firelands raid instance. Though it’s written from a 25-man perspective, most of the tips should apply to 10s as well.

Majordomo is a really fun fight to heal as a druid with periods of intense, raid-wide damage to heal through.

If you’re not familiar with the general tactics of the fight, check out the Icy Veins guide.

Debuffs you want to be aware of:

Searing Seeds – On every 3rd form shift Majordomo will use a special ability. When switching from cat to scorpion he’ll cast Searing Seeds on everyone. These will last between 10-60 seconds and will explode to do fire damage to anyone within 12 yards when they wear off. You’ll want to see when people’s debuffs are wearing off as they will need extra healing.

Burning Orbs – When switching from scorpion to cat Majordomo will summon 5 Fiery Orbs (2 on 10-man) which will do stacking damage over time to the nearest target. The people with this debuff will require healing.

When Apotheosis does this fight we start with Scorpion phase. Our general phase swaps go like this:

I will be listing the specific times I use my cooldowns, but based on when your guild triggers the form changes, your mileage my vary.

General Tips

Set Majordomo as your Focus Target so you can watch his energy bar. When his energy bar reaches 100, he will use Flame Scythe (if in Scorpion form) or Leaping Flames (if in Cat form). You want to get people up to safe health levels before he reaches 100 energy and hits people again (especially when he’s in Scorpion phase).

As Majordomo gains stacks of Adrenaline his energy bar will fill faster – 20% faster for every application – so his special abilities will come closer and closer together. When he’s at low stacks, don’t panic. Let your HoTs tick people up to full and conserve mana. As his stacks get higher you’ll need to put out more healing, faster.

You should be able to use Tranquility multiple times on this fight. I use it on second scorpion phase and 4th scorpion phase. You should also be able to use Tree of Life multiple times. I use it early on the first scorpion phase, on the 2nd scorpion phase and if possible I use it a third time whenever it comes off cooldown.

This can be a very mana-intensive fight, so Innervate early and often. Potions of Concentration can also come in handy. The best time to use these is right after Staghelm changes forms. If you pop it right away you’ll have time to gain the full benefit from the potion and be back in action before the first special ability hits.

Scorpion Phase

During scorpion phase the whole raid will be taking significant damage.

As Adrenaline stacks increase start using Rejuv and Regrowth to top up those lowest on health.

Use Barkskin to reduce some of the incoming damage. If you’re taking the first scorpion phase for ~10 stacks of Adrenaline you should be able to use it twice. Use it once near the beginning and then again when it’s off cooldown, just before a Flame Scythe hits. Using it later should mean it’s active for at least 2 scythe hits.

On the first scorpion phase I use Tree of Life early (around 3 stacks of Adrenaline) so it will be up again for the second scorpion phase. Spread Lifeblooms around the raid and use all OoC procs for Regrowths (along with Efflo and SM on cooldown).

If Searing Seeds are up during Scorpion phase:

The above advice still applies, but in addition to that:

Keep an eye on people’s seed debuffs. Try to get a Rejuv on those with <5 seconds left as they will be running out of range of many of the AoE heals. These people may also require a direct heal to get their health high enough to survive the next Flame Scythe.

Use Tree of Life if it is available.

Use Tranquility just before a Flame Scythe hits so everyone is high on health and continues to get heals afterward. Just watch your own Searing Seed debuff. Don’t start casting Tranquility if you’re going to have to run out in a couple seconds and interrupt it.

Use Barskin just before your searing seed explodes.

Cat Phase

Damage during this phase should not be nearly as intense as scorpion phase. If your raid is spread out, no more than a few people should be taking damage at a time.

Keep LB and rejuv on the tank

Keep an eye on the boss. Watch to see which way he’s facing as his energy bar fills up. If he targets you (or someone near you) for Leaping Flames you can start moving beforehand to minimize the damage you take.

If only one person gets damaged by the Leaping Flames, top them up with a Rejuv or direct heal (slow heals are fine when adrenaline stacks are low, use faster heals as they get higher).

If multiple people get damaged, use Wild Growth and RJ/SM to get Efflorescence under those people.

At the end of Cat phase when you’re switching to Scorpion, cast a Wild Growth as you’re running in along with a Swiftmend on the tank to get Efflo down. These will do a fair bit of healing while the raid is momentarily frozen (after the first cat phase).

If Burning Orbs are up during Cat phase:

The above advice still applies, but in addition to that:

Burning Orbs increase the amount of healing needed in this phase considerably.

Keep Rejuv up on anyone in range who is getting damaged by an orb.

Use Wild Growth and Efflorescence if multiple orb tanks are close together.